Our Darkest Hour
by Numb3rsGeek
Summary: The Leverage cast is stuck in the middle of LA during the Zombie War. Has some OC's, rated T for strong language and for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't normally break up my stories into chapters... they are more like sections. Here's section one and two, with no break off in the middle.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own World War Z or Leverage.**

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_Damn_, the young girl thought, cursing her luck. There were no supplies, and time was running out. She looked around, trying to find the last few members of her team. They had all met up for a "convention", but things took a turn for the worse. Now they were stuck with little food and low ammo. _Just what we needed. Not now, not now!_

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It was early morning. A woman shuffled over to her plane, ready to make the next delivery. The destination was somewhere in California. Hopefully things wouldn't turn out too bad. She grabbed some caffeine pills and hauled herself into the cockpit. "This is RingLeaderDTB, ready for take off," she said into her helmet. "Rodger that, Ringleader. You are cleared." She took off, heading west, not knowing the tragedy that would strike.

It was almost nighttime by then. Summer had extended the light hours, and now the woman who went by RingLeader was grateful for it. She picked up her radio and tried to find a signal. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" It took a couple seconds, but she heard it. The unmistakable sound of another radio.

"Hello? Hello? Do you copy, repeat, do you copy?" Ringleader gave a little shout of joy.

"Hi! This is RingLeader of the US Air Force. My plane's crash landed somewhere in what looks to be a city. It's abandoned now. Do you have troops?"

"Ring? RL! We don't have troops, but I can get you outta there! It's… My handle is MusicKale, from the chat! Don't worry; I've got Q here, along with a couple of… guests. We're going by our handles; we think the waves may be compromised. Stay on line; this has been secured for now. I have a holo 1 heading your way." 'RL' scratched her head.

"A what?" She heard a laugh on the other side of the two way, but no explanation came. There was static for a little bit of time, then a different voice came on, one that RL would have recognized anywhere.  
"RL, is it? Mind if I call you that? This is G –[A voice perked up, "HANDLES! No real names!"] – Sophie. My handle is Sophie. Do you have a side arm? If you are where Kale thinks you are, there are quite a few zombies there. We can't risk a live rescue, but we have some experimental equipment we've been trying to test… Just stay safe, get in a tree or something. Our holo 1 should be able to find you, so don't worry about that." RL just nodded, slightly surprised she didn't go into 'fan girl' mode on poor Gina. _Sophie. Not Gina_, she remembered. She'd have to remember to call her by her handle, obviously inspired by her newest role.

"So Kale… What other 'guests' do you have there?"

"Everybody. Nate, Parker, Hardison, Eliot, and you've met Sophie. And Q. Yu and my cousin are up north, but will be trying to get down within the month. I… I couldn't track any of the others. I'm sorry." There was a slight pause, some silence. "Do you want me to radio your superiors? Our radios work better."

"Sure thing! But won't you need me?" Another laugh played over the static.

"No, it'll be fine. Our holo should be there…. What is taking it so long."? A voice nearby perked up.

"Sorry Kale. Zombie infected regions made me detour several times. You're correct about location. She is in what used to be North Tustin. Would you like me to gather supplies?" RL looked around, franticly trying to find a voice, pulling out her side arm. She finally found the source of the voice a few feet away, near one of the homes. It looked identical to the pictures on Kale's Twitter, or it did as far as RL could tell. The girl in front of her was neither tall nor short, but was stout. Not extremely obese, but certainly overweight. Dark brown hair fell to her shoulders, and her glasses were practically falling off of her face. She motioned RL to follow her. "Hello RL. I'm Holo 1, but you can call me Prongs. There are other holos, but they are on patrol or scouting duty. If you don't mind, I need to get some supplies from a nearby house. Do you mind?" RL shook her head, and the girl sped ahead.

"The house in question is just ahead. This used to be a busy street, even prewar." They made a couple turns, walking over the ashes of what used to be the homes of the middle class. Not the upper crust, but living well enough. They had everything the needed, and more. They stopped in front of a nice house, still intact. The windows were boarded up, but ivy had grown over the boards. There was a black gate, guarded by two stone griffins. The gate and door had boards over them, and it looked as if no one would be able to get in. The girl, Prongs was what she called herself, turned around. "Wait here." And with that simple command, Prongs walked through the boards. Within five minutes, there were random pieces of computers, canned food supplies, and even a few flares and a rifle. Soon Prongs came back out, an old WWII era shotgun in hand. She tossed it to RL and picked up some of the items. In an instant they disappeared. RL was stunned. She had never seen anything like that. Prongs saw her amazement and chuckled.

"Like that? It's new. Kale asked her advisors for some help, but we realized that we could use common parts of computers to make everything we needed. Go figure. We have one more stop, but I have to make that one on my own. Follow me." They walked to the side of the house, where two walls made a little "alleyway" of sorts. It was small, to say the least. It would fit one person, but not comfortably. Prongs just kept walking, and as RL watched, she started going down. RL decided it was safe enough, and continued on her path. The station they reached was beyond belief. Little black pads covered the floor, and a subway track was laid down to their right. A guest of wind kicked up as a subway actually passed by.

"New technology," Prongs explained. "It's been in the works for a while, but this stop was added when the pres – when we realized this was a good spot to have it hidden, yet easy to access. The flooring uses the energy from a footstep and converts it into electrical energy. Neat, huh?" Prongs smiled before jumping up and down a couple times. "Plus, they have good bounce!" Before she could say anything else, the next train had stopped, and they got on. The mechanical beast lurched into motion, and what would have taken an hour before the war took 30 minutes. "This is our stop." The two girls got off and went up to the surface. Before coming out of hiding, Prongs made a motion for RL to arm herself. RL almost went to her side arm, but then remembered the shotgun. Pulling it out, she carefully aimed it in front of her as she inched out. Making sure the coast was clear, she nodded to Prongs. Prongs inched out as well, then started to laugh softly. "I forgot! Why are we being so careful?" She closed her eyes, then shook her head. "No zombies nearby. None that could raise an alarm or anything at least. The nearest graveyard is a good while away, and most of the living left here within the first few months of the Great Panic. Follow me please. I'll alert you if a zombie gets within shooting range." The walked for a while, then stopped for a quick break. Prongs assure RL that the base was only thirty minutes away, and RL believed her. She had no other choice. Lo and behold, they got there before the day was up. It had gotten dark, but it was their fault. Prongs held up a hand and walked through the door again. It opened up, and RL walked in.

"Hello? Kale? Anybody?" she heard the gun before she saw it. That much she was expecting. What she didn't expect was to see the person holding. He held a finger to his mouth, making sure she was quiet.

"Shut up," he whispered. "She's on the two way. And for the record, here I'm Eliot. We gotta use code names. Don't know who she is, but she insisted, and I don't wanna mess with her now. I don't care how old she is… When you have clearance like that…" Eliot drifted off, then lowered the gun, satisfied. They both listened as they walked further into the warehouse. RL had recognized the place instantly, but didn't make any comments. Then she heard it.

"Look, I don't care who you are! I have higher clearance! We can hold out here longer, we have things stabilized, but we are not risking men for a small band. If there were more of us, then I'd give the green light… No it's only one of your men. And me, but I'm not your man… NO! Too many down here. They've spread out now, it's worse then we may have thought. They seem… don't say that. Look, we have the supplies to hold out longer now. I have ways to make what we need, and the last few things I'm looting now. I have people on it. Yes. You better next time! I'm part of the PA system that he set up, so you better! I don't care how old I am, I've been in the middle of this the whole time, and my word goes! Over and out." There was a sigh, then another talk was started. "Hello? This is LA base one to Air Force One. Are you there, over? … Yes sir. I have eleven people including myself. We have the supplies we need, we'll be ok. I just need information, sir. … No, no the more you have, the better. … Yes sir, I'll tell him sir. And are you sure we need handles? … No sir, I just… Yes sir. Handles it is. Kale, over and out." Kale jumped over the pole onto the stairs, and walked down to greet RL.  
"Hey there RL! I see you've met Eliot, you heard Sophie earlier! And you met Prongs, my first holo! Based her off me, but as you can see… the resemblance isn't real clear anymore." It was true. Unlike Prongs, Kale had lost some weight, and not in a good way. She looked more like a 'normal' person, but at the same time, one who was starved and sleep deprived. "Anyway, I have a few holos out, so we should be getting hand weapons soon. Hardison is up with JonRog and Bergopolis manning the sniper nests, and Electric is down in the green house trying to help Nate with the plants. Eliot is our door guard, and Parker and Sophie watch the communication lines. Q's been with me, but she just went down to help Nate and Electric. The two of us are all over. Well, do what you please, just don't get in the way." RL just stood there, mouth practically on the floor. She couldn't believe that all of them were there, acting like it was just a day at the office. This was a full-fledged war they were in, and although they were prepared, they were also numb already. This war was far from over, and they all knew it. But for now, she had questions.

"Kale, what the hell is going on? I mean, what is the PA? And why does that give you special rights? Who were you talking to just then? Why were they on the president's plane? I want some answers fast, Kale." Eliot jumped up and aimed his gun, but Kale just waved a hand.

"No she's right. She deserves answers. But I'm not authorized to give them just yet. Hell, I don't even have all the answers I want. I just know –" Kale was cut off by Parker up above her.

"Hey, Marksman35 is on the line. And Soph has some scientist on the other line." Kale nodded and looked over to Eliot. "Go take care of the animals please." She then walked up to the two ways, taking Sophie's first.

"Parker, tell Mark to wait for a minute. This is Kale… Yes… Ok… WHAT? How the hell did… No sir. I'm just asking… I cannot… No sir, I will not endanger my charges… We have a fortress, and we're in the middle of a white zone! We can't just leave! But… No sir, don't endanger more men, we can… V? No sir, just the… Should we expect… Mythos? Never heard it called that…. Shit!" Kale's face visibly paled, and she started shaking. "This is bad… No sir, I'm calm… I didn't realize… yes sir, will do sir… I'll lock down now. Over and out." Kaelin was close to tears as she grabbed the radio out of Parkers hand. All the girls had worry on their faces, but they left when Kale shooed them away. "Mark? Hey Mark… Yeah I just got the news. Worse… They got a couple of my co-workers. I don't know… We thought they were safe. They aren't zombies though… it's a new breed. We don't know yet… No, he didn't tell me… Yes, all of our parents are safe… yes, I'm sure, he assured me they were. I trust… No I am not! Take that back… Ha ha, yeah ok… You suck Mark! You know how weird it is calling you Mark? … yeah I bet huh?" Kale laughed as she said her goodbye. Parker and Sophie started to come back up. Both went over at the same time, but Parker spoke up first as concern filled both of them. This was the person who had saved them from zombies, the person who set up the base, who was able to find supplies when they were running low. She had taught them how to build a garden, keep in touch with the outside world, and how to shoot a zombie so that they knew it wouldn't get back up. This was the girl who sat broken in front of them.

"Hey, Kale… you ok? What happened?" MusicKale just shook her head, near tears again. She couldn't believe that this was happening. Just before the war started she had worked at her dad's office. She had befriended one of the workers there, and had looked up to her like an older sister. She had made sure that her fellow workers were safe, out of harms way. She had sent them to a Blue Zone, one that had no zombies, that was safe already. She knew that Parker and Sophie were there, so she put on a tough front and looked up.

"Hey, we got a fortress to run! I should go check on Eliot soon, he's been in the other warehouse for too long..." she trailed off as she walked away, leaving behind two worried actresses.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't break these up into chapters... more like sections. Here are sections three, four, and five.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own World War Z or Leverage.**

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RL looked at the garden in awe. It was huge, or at very least gigantic. She looked for Q, but had little luck so she decided to wander around a bit. It didn't take long for her to find Nate and Electric 44 chatting. She waved to them, and was surprised when they waved back.

"Hey! What's your handle?" Nate asked, smile on his face.

"I'm RingLeaderDTB69, but call me RL for short! Nate and Electric, right?" both the guys nodded and went back to chatting. RL continued to look for Q, finally finding her by the tomatoes, muttering something. "Q?" The other girl turned around, confused at first, then relived.

"RL! I heard Kale say you were coming down, but the place is a friggen white zone, so I figured you'd be stuck out there for a while! I should have known the holo would get you here safe and sound… and fast!" She let out a quick laugh before continuing on. "So, how have you been? I haven't heard from you since the network went down! Although we've had some neat breakthroughs here, one has not been the internet." Q chuckled and let RL answer.

"Good, I've been good! I got a job in the US Air Force piloting supplies out to blue zones. That's what I was doing when I crashed, actually! I was lucky to have you guys near by! But why was Kale on the radio? She said Parker and Sophie are in charge of that. Plus there were four sniper windows, but she only listed three snipers."

"Oh, the fourth is for whoever wants to man it. There are more little windows here, ones that the zombies can't open from the outside, but we can open from the inside to shoot them if need be. Kale goes between lots of different stations, helping with everything. I don't know where she learned this stuff, but she's good, I'll give her that! I know what she means by she loves to learn now, too! Remember when we were talking about that in chat? She has the most random knowledge I've seen. But that's the product of a life-spent learning… So I'm wondering how she got it. She won't tell me, or any of us for that matter! I've sent Aldis after her, I've sent Christian after her, hell I've sent BETH after her! Girl doesn't break! And that's the way the military teaches it too. I took some advice from an army friend of mine. Taught me how to stay calm, and Kale's using the same technique. Now, she could have learned if from her cousin, but I doubt it. He hasn't stepped foot here in a year from what I've heard. They always talk on the radios at a certain time, and they'll be on for hours. She doesn't take any other calls when he's on. None of us get it, 'cause they don't just talk about normal stuff. They talk in some code… oh well. It's been weird here… hey, want to see my secret project?" Q motioned for RL to follow her, and lifted up a tomato plant. Underneath was a secret panel, which Q lifted up to reveal another plant. It was small, but the rose was easy to recognize. "I'm raising it in secret. I'm gonna give it to one of the girls when it's grown! I have a few more seeds, so eventually I'll give one to everyone, but first to one of the girls in secret. It'll be fun to watch the guessing, and it'll get everyone's minds of this damn war." Q nodded then looked over to RL. "That's the only way we're gonna survive this thing, you know. If we don't let is stress us out. Nate and Electric figured it out, but the others… they still don't know. It's scaring me to be honest. Most of the time they seem just as empty as the very things they're fighting."

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In the other warehouse, Eliot was letting the dogs out to play. "Ok! Crystal, your turn! EliPup, you get back in!" He could have sworn EliPup gave a little huff in protest, but went in anyway. Crystal ran out onto a fake field, filled with any dog toys they could find. On the plus side, rats were abundant. Kale would let her dogs out into the warehouse every night to hunt. They always came back with a small pile of rats that they could either use for protein, or else they could feed the meat to the dogs to keep them healthy. It wasn't their favorite option, but it was one of the few they had. The snipers already shot any wildlife that got too close and sent their holo to retrieve it. Eliot shook his head. He may have played a good chef, but in real life he was no better then the next guy. He could make some meals, and was good at stuff he had eaten before the war started, but no one could have prepared him for this. Hell, no one could have prepared any of them for this. When the war had started, they were in LA. No one knew why the team had been pulled out of Portland until the news played their next big story. Portland was the first cit on a West Coast state to be completely overrun by the Zombie plague. Someone knew that the zombies were headed that way. The network had wanted them to take that phony drug, but no one had agreed to it. They knew better. They had planned to meet at the old warehouses to figure out what they were gonna do next. The meeting was that Thursday. The Wednesday before that the network fell. No one was expecting it, but at the same time… no one could say it came as a shocker. They met anyway. Eliot wasn't sure about the others, but he had grown close to the people he had worked with, and he wasn't about to let them fall victim to the zombies. Not that it had mattered. One lone zombie was all it took. They heard the moan start to build, and Parker had whipped around and shot it twice in the head before anyone else could react. No one knew why she had reacted to fast; she still hadn't explained it. But then again, no one had time to ask. Within minutes, more zombies had found them and they were all moaning, letting any zombie in the area where the group was. They had all pulled their guns, but it didn't help. Kale had been in a warehouse with Q. The two of them had been scoping out hot spots around LA for some reason that Q didn't know. Kale did, but she wasn't telling anyone any time soon. Both had snipers, a couple mid range rifles, and some hand guns with them. The two of them kept the snipers, motioning for the team to get up there and get the other guns. No one wasted time. Up in the bunker they had a slight advantage. Kale kept searching for someone, or something, but it was easy to tell that she wasn't finding it. It took them an hour to kill off all the zombies. Some straggled behind, but by then they were able to start fortifying the two warehouses and get a tunnel between the two at least started. Kale made sure it was low enough and far enough in. If it wasn't, the zombies would just fall through and that was the last thing they wanted. Kale had called in for supplies and ammo after they had finished. If it hadn't been for Kale and Q, they would have died. Eliot thought for a minute about the last few minutes in the communications tower. He had never seen Kale even close to tears. He saw sorrow every time she shot a zombie, but never tears. He sighed as he walked over to the makeshift lab. Warehouse one had the garden, the communications tower, and at least two sniper windows per window, while Warehouse two had the animal shelter, the lab, the storage room, and the kitchen. He wondered about the animal shelter sometimes. "What are you expecting, Kale?" he muttered, pondering the size of the cages. A human could fit into on pen with room to stretch.

"I'm expecting you to help the dogs, not sit there, staring into space," Kale joked. Eliot would have jumped before the war, but not any more. He just turned around and let out a small chuckle.

"Cute, Kale. That's not what I meant. Why are you so… What are you hiding? And why won't you tell us?" Kale just shook her head.

"Did Q ask you to do this again? 'Cause she already tried it. I already said it's classified, I can't tell you. I'd love to, but if word got out that I did… I'd lose everything I worked for. I can't lose it all now, not after working for this for so long. Please, Eliot… just follow orders and don't ask. I just need to work." Kale looked up at Eliot, then down to the little dog at her feet. She laughed as Crystal turned onto her back, expecting a tummy rub. She obliged for minute, then moved over to the weapons storage. Grabbing a couple handguns, Kale considered taking a knife as well. She decided against it, finally settling on a lobo to do the job. "Look, I have to go out for a few. Don't worry, I'll have a holo with me… holo 4 to be exact. I need a sharp shooter, and you know that Hardison's holo is the best we have. That means double duty for Parker and Sophie's holos. Got it?" Eliot just nodded, knowing he couldn't convince Kale to stay. As Kaelin left, she mumbled something to herself. "Keep everyone safe, Eliot. Please," she called over her shoulder, her last words hardly a whisper.

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Nate looked over at Electric and gave a little nod. Electric nodded back and went over to Q, looking over her shoulder for a second. "Hey Q. What'cha working on?" Q whipped around quickly, startled.

"Oh, just the tomatoes. You can never have too many shiny tomatoes, right?" She let out a little laugh, not even realizing that she had quoted the very show that she was surrounded by.

"Oh really? That's good. Look, here's the thing… We need to get outta here. We think Kale is up to something, and she's gone now. We have to act, or plan for something!" Q looked at Electric, shocked that he would say such a thing.

"You can't do that! We're in danger out there! It's a white zone… do you know what that means? It means that zombies are out there waiting for us around every corner. Besides, Kale knows something we don't… And that could help us more then we can imagine. We need to stay inside. Who knows what is out… there… Parker?" Q was staring over Electric's shoulder now, straight to the front door. Parker was heading to it in a lazy shuffle. It wasn't the "zombie shuffle" that they had come to recognize, but a different one. She didn't even turn her head when Q said her name, which meant something was off. Nate turned and went to block the door.

"Parker, stay inside for now. We've gotta wait until it's safe." Parker didn't hear him. She kept walking, staring at something in the distance with a look that could only be a mixture of surprise and joy, sorrow and longing. Rl looked down from her window above the door, leaving the window open for just a second. It was just a second too long. Something swung in, hovered in the air for a second, then landed gracefully behind Parker.

"Ah, here you are Beth. Well, your services are no longer needed. Oh well, you'd have been a good pet." With that, the blonde haired creature moved toward Parker, hand reaching for her neck. Something flashed in the dim light and the hand retreated. Kale stood, pistol out, smoke spilling out of the barrel.

"Sophie, RL, get Parker to the bunks. I'll deal with this… menace," Kale spat, glancing to the door. "What did you do with them? Tell me now, or face the consequences, deamon." Hatred laced her voice, and her eyes were cold as they pierced the woman before her. It turned around slowly, and it was all Kale could do not to gasp. The person in front of her had the same blonde bun, the same glasses, and even the same formal attire that RK had when she left them at the bunker. But it wasn't her co-worker, and Kaelin knew that. She held her ground as the creature advanced, but lowered one hand to reach for her Lobo.

"Now, now, we don't need to be barbarians here, do we? I thought we were much more civilized then that. Isn't that right Ni – " Kale gave a loud shout, knowing what was coming next, then shot another bullet. It grazed the creature's throat, but the wound healed quickly. "Was that really nessecary? I mean, what's a little talk amongst friends? Really now, that was rude."

"You are not my friend, you filthy… I wouldn't even call you my enemy. You're lower then the dirt. Now tell me this much; where is RK? And you have one chance to fess up, then you're outta here." Kale cocked the pistol and drew her lobo, preparing for anything. Then she felt it. She felt something pull the lobo out of her hand carefully, then rest on her shoulder. She could feel herself start to shake, but willed herself not to. "Br…Don't make me shoot this. I will… You know me. I will."

"No you won't. I know you, and you won't." Kale almost turned around, almost looked into her ex co-workers eyes, and almost trusted her. But she shook her head and avoided eye contact. She let out a sad laugh as she raised the gun up to head level and put her finger on the trigger.

"Now," she whispered, trying not to let tears cloud her vision. Two shots rang out, and two bodies fell down. Kale turned around without another word, just a motion. A holo, one of Eliot, sprang into motion. It grabbed the bodies, and went to Warehouse 2 with them. The real Eliot turned white as he thought about what was in that warehouse. Then there was a noise. Someone was struggling. The group ran to the noise, scared of what may have happened. Parker was sitting straight up in her bed, with Sophie and RL against the back wall. All three looked scared, and Parker looked downright frantic. Kale moved next to Parker and looked her in the eye. Nodding, she moved to the neck. Once she examined it, she let out a slight gasp. On Parker's neck were two little pinpricks, little red dots that were hard to see in the dim light. Kale just stood up and motioned everyone to leave. Once everyone left, she turned to Parker, one hand on her gun.

"You were bitten." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Parker nodded once.

"They said my name… I was upstairs in the other warehouse, I opened one of the windows to get some air. They knew my real name. I don't remember what happened after that… just Q saying my name, then you had the gun and Sophie and RL were rushing me out of there… But I didn't want to go. There was a blonde, but… it wasn't her. The other one was in charge. I didn't see her, but I could tell. She's the one that… Shoot me, Kale. I'm not going to end up some creature, I want my last memories to be human ones. Please." Parker sounded close to tears, but Kale shook her head.

"It's too late. If you were going to change, it would happened. You aren't a vampire… You have Mythos V, don't get me wrong. That's what this is. There are new strains, so we've been calling it the Mythos virus, and you not only have Mythos V, but you're immune to it. I need to tell… I need to get to the two ways. Stay here for at least another hour before you do anything, just to stay safe. Got it?" Parker nodded, and gave a weak smile.

"Guess they didn't like the taste of my blood so much." Kaelin gave a half-hearted attempt at a smile, but it didn't quite work out.

"Yeah… guess not."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N the next few sections are up! Yes, the infamous Q&A section! Don't worry, I don't give everything away!**

**Disclaimer: Do I REALLY need to put this up? I don't own WWZ OR Leverage!**

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Nate stared at the person in front of him. It couldn't be Electric44, because 44 would never put others in harms way. Nate couldn't believe that stupid "plan" was still going through; it was one thing when there were only zombies, but vampires too? What was next? Werewolves? Nate shook his head; what a stupid thought.

"Look, I'm just saying you need to think it over! It's not going to work when you have things that can think! It's a whole new ball game now! They used Parker, for God's sake! Used her real name, and that's all it took. Who's next? Hell, we don't even know what's next!"

"Exactly! We need to find out, Nate. And Kale sure as hell isn't gonna tell us!" At that moment, Parker walked in.

"Meeting. Kale says it's 'code pink' whatever that means." Q popped up from behind the tomato plants and zoomed out of there, muttering something that sounded like either "Oh shit!" or "Oh shiny tomato."

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They were all crammed into the bunk area. Normally there was a strict "Only guys/girls" rule, but normally they didn't hold meetings.

"Ok, our first order of business," Kale started, "is that Parker is all checked out! She's been cleared by both me and the higher ups. Which brings me to something very important. Now, pay very close attention to this next bit. I've finally been cleared to tell you guys everything after our last… incident. But none of it is good news. If you don't think you can handle bad news, go work o the plants or something." No one even twitched. "Ok good. The virus is mutating. We think there are currently 3 strains out there: MythosV, MythosZ, and MythosW. Now, these are just fancy names for strains that turn you into a Vampire or Zombie or something. We are working on a "cure" for the V strand, but those infected with MythosZ are out of luck. Parker is an extremely rare case… which brings me to my next point. I've been charged to protect you guys. Q and I are your only link to the US government, and safety for that matter. Even when Yu and Marksman get here, they are under my command. So when I say to NEVER use real names, I'm not just joking around. I don't know who said it – " Q shifted in her seat as Kale looked around the room, but said nothing, " – but never again. They know my name, and now they know Parker's. That leaves us two down. And while I knew what would come if they said my name, Parker didn't. She almost died. Y'all are lucky I left out a prototype Hardison and I were working on. If I hadn't, you guys would have… look, just don't do it again. Hardison, that reminds me. I talked to the big guys, and pulled some strings… You've got level 4 research clearance. You have access to plans, projects, and anything that can be accessed via computer or holo tech. That should help out a lot with the upgrades we've been planning." Hardison grinned and nodded.

"Ok! So, last thing before I open it up to questions. No one goes into Warehouse 2 alone until I get a chance to 'talk' to our guests. Not even you, Eliot. Ok, shoot." Q's hand was first in the air, but it wasn't to ask a question. The slap rang through the air and everyone held their breath. Kale just sighed. "Sorry, old habit… I deserved that." Q nodded solemnly, then asked her question.

"Why the hell was I left in the dark? I'm part of your squad." Kale shrugged.

"I had orders that I was commanded to follow. I may be an acting 'general' and the commander of what's left of our squad, but there are a lot of people higher then me on the chain. What, did you think 'General Prongs' was just another nickname?" Kale let out a small laugh. Eliot raised a hand next. It had a makeshift bandage on it, and a little red spot was visible.

"What did you mean when you said we're your 'charges'? We're not packages, Kale, we're people."

"I honestly don't know. All I was told was that y'all were gonna be pulled from Portland and that I was to find a place in LA to keep y'all safe. Works for me though. Loved the show, and the stunt work gave you guys a bit of an advantage. Things could have been a lot worse. And what happened to your hand?" Eliot let out an irritated huff and scowled.

"Dog bit me. I was playing around with EliPup when it happened." Q laughed out loud, and Sophie had to put her hand over her mouth to conceal her grin. Nate asked the next question.

"So… Mythos? As in Myth? And a letter… so what's W?"

"Beats me. Were – animal? Only thing I can think of that fits…" Kale trailed off, and the group sat in silence for a little while. Then Sophie perked up.

"So, what are we going to do about our two guests?"

"I've got some earplugs I'm working on with Hardison. Now that he has clearance, we should be finished within a half hour! It takes noise and reduces it to computer generated sound waves. If you two don't mind, I want to take them on a test run. Cool with you Hardison?"

"Hell ya! Those things should work like a charm. And if not… well, we'll be there to back you up!"

"What about you Sophie?"

"I'm game… just one thing. I thought they knew your name. So why risk your safety by going down there in the first place?"

"Let's just say… well, I have a bone to pick with these two. Well, we're done her. No one goes near the sniper nests until I give the all clear. Dismissed."

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Two little red blobs sat on the table, a proud Hardison grinning over them. Sophie was skeptical at first, but she wasn't about to argue. Kale put them in her ears and the trio went down to the animal pens. Kale led the way, making sure the others were hidden from view. They didn't want the vampires to know about the group because Sophie had thought it would change their answers if they knew Kale wasn't alone. When they reached the dog's playpen, Sophie and Hardison hid, leaving Kale to face the vampires. She stepped up and made her presence known. Both the trapped girls looked up, snarled, then looked away. The blonde spoke first.

"What do you want? Make it quick."

"Now now, RK… I thought we were civilized people here." Kale moved up next to the chain link fence separating them. "Not as fun when you're the person behind the fence, not the person in control, now is it?" The one Kale called RK almost leapt forward, but the other vampire grabbed RK's shoulder.

"Calm yourself Rachel. I apologize, Nicole. Rachel's still… young." The vampire let out a chuckle. "Well, young for a vampire. I guess young for a human as well. How are you? I'd invite you in, but it's cramped enough as is."

"No jokes. What happened Brenda? I told you two to stay inside the bunker! It had a choke point and everything… you guys were safe in there!" Kale was practically yelling now, tears threatening to spill over. _Ah,_ thought Sophie. _This was the horrible news she got on the two ways the other day. _

"Nothing happened. We just went to get air. We were even partnered up, like you said. But it's like this is a bad thing! Do you have any idea what we can do now? Ask your friend Beth. She should know by now too." Brenda smirked at the expression on Kale's face. "Oh did you not know? RK here was going to hurt her, yes, but it wouldn't have had any effect. We already sired her, so she would have healed up nicely." Kale nods, tilting her head slightly as Brenda muttered something, causing RK to let out a sharp laugh.

"Ha! We hardly have enough people to run a functional clan. Plus with the mutts running around…" She trailed off, letting the silence speak volumes. Slowly, Kale got up, moved to a cage further down the row, and pushed a button. One of the dogs poked a paw out, then bolted to the playpen. The confused vampires stared at the dog, then the girl in front of them. With that, Kale left, motioning for Sophie and Hardison to follow.  
"Eliot, you and Nate watch the dogs. Actually… have Q go with you."


End file.
